Lake County history: Did you know?

Sunday

Aug 13, 2017 at 2:14 PM

By Rick Reed / Correspondent

The Lake County Selective Service Board during World War II was made up of Carl Lee Duncan, D.D. Moore, Mrs. Francis Lovell, all of Tavares; H. Carpenter of Leesburg; and Carl Ferran, O.B. Kuntz and Izetta Kop, all of Eustis. A total of 3,447 men from Lake County registered for the draft. Men who could not qualify for military service were urged to join the Lake County Home Guard, which was different from the National Guard. They drilled weekly on the local high school football fields.

The late Travis Messer, a Tavares native, served on the group, which he called more military than paramilitary. Messer joined the Florida Defense Force at age 16, which was around 1940 when Hitler was conquering most of Europe.

Messer, who was discharged in 1946, saw action in the Mediterranean, North Africa and Italy.

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The 1953 edition of the Leesburg High School football team racked up a gaudy 10-1 record, the best in 19 years, and carted home three titles: the Orange Belt Championship, the Elks Bowl Championship and the Lake County Championship.

Making the gridiron accomplishments even more amazing was the 2-7-1 record the 1952 team registered.

The 1953 Yellow Jackets were more than a good football team, the senior-dominated squad was also about friendship. That was evident when nine of those 14 seniors gathered with other team members for a 50th reunion in 2003.